


romance is a capitalist SCAM

by arisfocis



Series: dreamies in high school [2]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Friends to Lovers, M/M, jaemin Care jisung, jisung has an internal monologue, jisung thinks romance is a capitalist scam until... he doesn’t anymore, overuse of the words dude and like, renhyuck are the most obnoxious bastards on this planet, renjun and chenle are cousins
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-16
Updated: 2020-07-16
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:13:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25301416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arisfocis/pseuds/arisfocis
Summary: Jisung thinks coming-of-age romance movies are one of the most stupid creations of modern-day humans.(I want a cheesy teen rom-com plot for myself, though, he thinks, before burying that thought into the recesses of his brain. Along with the rest of his Chenle-pining.)Jisung unlocks his phone, only to be immediately confronted with his conversation with Jeno about said Chenle-pining. He feels like driving his head into a brick wall. Repeatedly.
Relationships: Park Jisung/Zhong Chen Le
Series: dreamies in high school [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1832809
Comments: 18
Kudos: 144





	romance is a capitalist SCAM

**Author's Note:**

  * For [elisu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/elisu/gifts).



Jisung thinks coming-of-age romance movies are one of the most stupid creations of modern-day humans. 

( _I want a cheesy teen rom-com plot for myself, though,_ he thinks, before burying that thought into the recesses of his brain. Along with the rest of his Chenle-pining.)

Jisung unlocks his phone, only to be immediately confronted with his conversation with Jeno about said Chenle-pining. He feels like driving his head into a brick wall. Repeatedly.

It’s not Jisung’s fault, really. Chenle’s been in China with his family all _fucking_ summer and FaceTime just doesn’t cut it, at some point. There’s like, two weeks until school starts, and Jisung is dead tired of his mom and his stupid summer homework and Johnny breathing down his neck about school all the time. 

And then, of course, there’s the whole thing about Jisung being unconditionally and irrevocably in love with Chenle and all. It’s _hard_ , pretending that everything’s fine with his best friend, when all he really wants to do is fall at his feet and profess his love for him. 

Chenle. Chenle and his stupid laugh and his stupid 3 AM memes and his stupid smart brain and his stupid voice. Stupid fucking Chenle.

Jisung feels like a melodramatic teenager. He supposes he _is_ a melodramatic teenager, after all. An impatient hormonal teenage boy.

Whee.

Jisung is tired of sitting alone in the heat. It’s making him go a little bit crazy.

He’s just about to ask the group chat when they’re going to arrive when someone hooks his chin over his shoulder and startles him. Jisung shuts his phone off and twists around, ready to scold Jaemin for surprising him, when he comes face to face with Chenle’s grinning face. “Hey, Sungie,” Chenle says.

Jisung forgoes a reply in favor of wrapping Chenle in a hug. “Dude, I missed you!” he exclaims. As they move to sit down on the edge of the fountain to wait for the rest of their friends, he releases Chenle from his grasp. He pats his cheeks and hopes that the rising warmth on his face isn’t as visible as it feels.

Mostly, though, he hopes that Chenle hadn’t seen any of his potentially incriminating conversation with Jeno. _It’d be hard to lie my way out of that one,_ Jisung thinks. _Everything there was just me ranting about Chenle._

Chenle reaches up and twists Jisung’s ear. “Hey, earth to Jisung. What’re you thinking about?”

Jisung looks away. “Oh, uh, you know, just about summer assignments and stuff,” he says, half-heartedly. 

Jisung looks back at Chenle just in time to see him divert his glance from Jisung’s face down to their feet. “Oh,” Chenle says. “Cool, I guess.” Jisung doesn’t fail to notice how Chenle’s voice has fallen flat.

Jisung picks at the lint on his jacket and sighs. Chenle tips his head sideways and rests it on Jisung’s shoulder.

Neither of them say anything. Jisung doesn’t want to hope, doesn’t dare to.

A leaf skitters on the sidewalk.

Jisung is in the middle of getting his phone back out again when he sees Jaemin and Jeno round the corner. Jaemin’s gesticulating wildly, hands flying, and Jeno is nodding along patiently. Jisung snorts internally. _Only them,_ he thinks, before standing up.

Chenle makes a tiny noise of confusion before standing up beside Jisung. Jisung resists the urge to scream into his hands.

“Hey, Jeno, Nana!” Chenle yells, waving them over. Jaemin stops whatever conversation he was having and runs to them.

Jisung senses his impending doom. He squeezes his eyes shut. 

“JISUNG! I missed you so much!” Jaemin barrels into Jisung, wrapping him in a hug. Jisung opens his eyes and makes eye contact with Chenle over Jaemin’s head. Chenle smirks, shrugs, and turns around to talk to Jeno.

Forget romance, Jisung wants to fight Chenle. 

Jaemin finally ( _finally)_ releases Jisung. “How are you?” Jaemin asks.

Jisung sighs and waves a hand vaguely. “Well, you know,” he sighs, looking at Chenle.

Jaemin follows his gaze over to a laughing Chenle clinging on to Jeno. Jisung sighs even more heavily. Jaemin looks back at Jisung knowingly. “Oh, so it’s like _that.”_

Jisung groans. “Yeah, I guess. I thought Jeno would have told you already, anyways. When are Renjun and Hyuck coming?”

“Oh, well, they said they had debate shit to do,” Jaemin says, “but we both know that means they’re just making out in Renjun’s Tesla.” He rolls his eyes. Jisung snorts and walks over to Jeno and Chenle.

Jeno pats Jisung’s shoulder. “Hey, Sungie,” he says. “I, uh, called Donghyuck and it went straight to voicemail so—” he grimaces. “—I don’t even want to know. We can go sit inside and pay for our stuff, probably?” He trails off.

Chenle shrugs. “Fine by me.” The four of them make their way into the ice cream shop.

As soon as the doors open, they're welcomed by a blast of cold air. Even though it’s a welcome relief from the sticky, hot atmosphereoutside, Jisung shivers involuntarily. Chenle glances over at him. “Are you okay, Jisung?” he asks.

“Uh, yeah—” Jiusng’s interrupted by Chenle wrapping his arms around Jisung’s waist. “Oh.”

When Chenle speaks, it’s muffled. “I just wanted to hug you,” he says into Jisung’s shirt. Jisung pats Chenle’s head, not sure what to say or do. Before Jisung can do anything else, Chenle lets go and hops over to Jaemin and Jeno, who are arguing. Again.

Jisung sighs. 

He walks behind Jaemin and pokes him in his side. Jaemin spins around instantly, hands up like he’s ready to fight. When he sees that it’s Jisung, however, he relaxes and says, “Dude, I thought you were Chenle? Bastard is always sneaking up on me and pinching me.” 

Jisung files this information away, but doesn’t respond outwardly. “Jaemin-hyung—”

Jaemin narrows his eyes. “What do you want from me.”

Jisung winces. _Dammit._ “Can’t a guy just show some love to his friend once in a while?”

Jeno looks sideways at Jisung, a knowing little smile on his face. Jaemin pokes Jisung in the chest. “Look at _me,_ stupid. What do you _want?_ ”

“Well, you see—” Jisung starts, before stopping at the look on Jaemin’s face. He resigns himself to his fate at Jaemin’s merciless hands. “I forgot my money.”

“Again?” Jaemin asks incredulously. “And you want me to buy the ice cream for you, right?”

Jisung realizes that he is not above throwing tantrums to get what he wants. “Jaemin,” he whines. “I’ll do anything for you, I _swear._ ”

Jisung is watching Jaemin waver in his decision with satisfaction, when Chenle pipes up. “Dude, Jisung, I can just pay for you. You know my mom always gives me too much money.”

Jisung’s about to respond when Renjun and Donghyuck burst in, laughing and red from the heat. Their hair is messy and Renjun is dragging Donghyuck into a headlock.

Jisung can’t decide whether he’s disgusted or jealous. He pats his cheeks and makes sure he isn’t smiling.

Chenle walks up to Jisung with a fond smile on his face. “They’re gross. I love them so much.” Jisung looks down at Chenle. (He realizes, belatedly, that the other has gotten a lot taller.) Chenle looks away from Renjun and Donghyuck and makes eye contact with Jisung. “Have you decided what flavor you want?” he asks, as Jaemin and Jeno finish their purchase and go to find them a table. 

“One scoop of coffee and one of chocolate.”

The two of them walk up to the register. The cashier, a high-school-aged student like them, rattles off the perfunctory greetings before asking for their order. Chenle recites Jisung’s order easily, but he takes a lot longer on his own.

When they finish getting their ice cream and move to sit down, Chenle bumps Jisung with his hip. “Dude, you’re so boring. You always get the same exact thing.”

Jisung slides into the booth with Jaemin and Jeno. He shrugs. “I’m a creature of habit, what can I say.”

“But how are you ever gonna know if the new flavors are good?” Chenle’s voice has taken on a whiny pitch.

“Well, that’s why I have you, right, Lele?” Jisung opens his mouth for Chenle’s ice cream.

Chenle jams the spoon into Jisung’s mouth, disgruntled. Jisung grins around the tiny plastic spoon. Jaemin’s camera shutter goes off. 

And like that, Jisung falls harder.

===

See, Jisung’s not stupid. He knows that, despite what every fanfic on the World Wide Web will tell you, high school romances are destined for failure. He’s seen friendships crash and burn. Valentine’s Day is nothing more than an excuse for the school’s ASB to raise even more fucking money.

He’s a bit jaded, understandably.

But: here’s the catch. Jisung would probably also take a bullet for Chenle.

 _Unstoppable force versus immovable object_ , Jisung thinks.

And so, here he is, with a relationship that passes too many boundaries to be strictly platonic and not enough to be romantic, and Jisung doesn’t know which way to go.

_Come what may._

For all the bravado, though, when Jisung’s interrogated by Renjun during lunch a couple weeks later, he doesn’t quite know how to respond. It starts off with Renjun’s typical intimidation techniques, but Jisung is both desensitized to every threat and completely perplexed as to why Renjun is all in his face.

When Jisung says as much, Renjun steps back a couple feet. If Jisung could actually see the blood drain away from someone’s face, he thinks he would have seen it with Renjun. Renjun claps a hand over his mouth. 

“ _Oh my god,”_ he says, almost to himself. “I fucked _up._ ”

Jisung is still confused. “What, exactly, did you fuck up?”

“How much has Chenle told you?”

“About _what?_ Dude, Renjun, why are you being so cryptic?”

“Oh my god. Oh my _god._ ” Renjun buries his face in his hands. “I’m so stupid. “ He lifts his face out of his hands. “Okay, here’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to go sit down, and I’m going to explain everything. And then you’re going to shut your mouth about everything, because if you fuck this up, Jisung Park, it _will not_ matter that I’ve known you for years.” 

The threat hangs for a bit in the air. Jisung blinks once, twice. “So…?”

“Right. Yeah. Chenle likes you. Like, _like_ likes you. He almost cried while telling me.” Renjun shrugs. “Basically, if you hurt him, I will—I don’t know what I’ll do. Just, like, it’s really obvious that both of you like each other, you know? Be nice to yourself.”

Renjun walks away. Just like that.

Jisung puts his face into his hands.

===

Jisung sees Chenle the next morning, before their shared English class. _One-sided awkwardness has got to be the worst,_ Jisung thinks as Chenle yammers about Mark and Lucas. Jisung doesn’t even know how to act around Chenle anymore, and he’s afraid that it’s showing.

Chenle pauses. It’s only then that Jisung zones back in and focuses on Chenle’s face—and his vaguely hurt expression. He’s good at masking it, to his credit, and the poker face slips back on scarily fast. “Am I boring you, Jisung?” he asks. His voice is light, but there’s a quiet tension in the words.

Jisung feels like crap. “I’m sorry, Chenle, I’ve got a lot on my mind—I know that sounds lame as fuck,” he says, seeing Chenle’s expression, “but like, really, I’ve been worrying about like, a lot of shit. I’m really sorry.”

“And you can’t just tell me about it?” Chenle asks, valiantly striving to keep the conversation light.

“It’s hard! And, it’s just like, I don’t know who I can talk to sometimes, you know?” Jisung knows he’s going on the defensive, knows that it’s the worst way to get out of this corner, but once the words slip out, there’s no taking them back. “I just mean—”

He’s interrupted by the bell ringing and the kids swarming around the two of them.

Chenle frowns. “Just forget about it, I guess,” he says stiffly. They walk to English in silence.

===

**jisung**

dude jaemin i think im like

actually stupid

**jaemin**

jisung pay attention in class

**jisung**

the spanish teacher let us have a free period

we finished our tests

anyways i think i messed up big time

**jaemin**

right. what did you mess up this time mr. poo-hands

**jisung**

chenle used to call me that </3

**jaemin**

  1. because it’s like 67% of your personality?
  2. if you hurt chenle you are going to die



**jisung**

not you too???!?!?

i didnt mean to i swear

it’s just that renjun accidentally told me chenle likes me

and like i like him back and everything but i dont know what to do

and i think he figured out that smths up but not exactly what

**jaemin**

you guys aren’t dating already?????

**jisung**

what.

the fuck

no 

**jaemin**

oh shit dude i thought u were

you guys are like. head over heels

**jisung**

this is news??????

no fuckign way

**jaemin**

right so 

we have break next week right

just ask chenle to come over and tlak or smth idk

*talk

it’s fine

it’s cool

you’re fine!

**jisung**

jaem i think you’re more nervous than me

**jaemin**

i just want u to be happy aha ha

kith kith

**jisung**

yeah yeah wtv

===

Jisung, for a person who is totally and completely freaking out, is surprisingly good at pretending his head is still on his shoulders.

The reality, of course, is never that simple. Jisung spends an unreasonable amount of time fretting over the phrasing of his text to Chenle. He does the dishes, cleans his room, cleans Johnny-hyung’s room, does his laundry and then just about every other chore that he can think of. It takes five minutes of pacing and an unreasonable amount of nail-biting for him to actually sit down and say anything to Chenle. 

**jisung**

dude are you free on monday to like study together

**chenle**

yeah

just to be clear we’re not actually studying right 

**jisung**

ofc not

Looking back, Jisung realizes that he’s kind of a dumbass for making such a big deal out of it. 

_It do be like that sometimes,_ Jisung thinks. He starts laughing at the absurdity of it all, until Johnny knocks on their shared wall and tells him to shut up.

===

Jisung watches Chenle play Mario Kart and wishes he’d taken Donghyuck up on his offer to binge watch romance movies on Netflix. Chenle is wiggling around in his seat and… Jisung kinda wants to kiss him. 

Chenle cheers as the race finishes with him in first place. He looks over at Jisung expectantly, ready for receive Jisung’s enthusiasm as well.

Jisung doesn’t register this at all, not until Chenle shuts off the TV and flops sideways into his lap. “Dude, Jisung, you’ve been so out of it lately, are you okay?”

Jisung looks down at Chenle. “Honestly, like, I don’t know anymore. It’s just—” he cuts his sentence off, waving his hands.

Chenle sits back up. “Do you want a hug? You like you’re about to cry.”

Wordlessly, Jisung crawls into Chenle’s lap. Chenle groans a little. “Jisung, you’re like, way too tall to sit in my lap,” Chenle says, but his eyes are crinkled in a fond little smile. “I love you, you know?”

Jisung closes his eyes. _That’s exactly the problem._ He feels his heartbeat in his mouth, feels dizzy at the thought of everything crashing down. 

“Chenle,” he says quietly, eyes still closed, “do you really, really mean that?”

Jisung feels Chenle freeze in his shifting and his heart drops from his mouth to his feet. “Lele?” he asks, even quieter.

Chenle starts stroking Jisung’s hair. “Sungie, baby, can you open your eyes for me, please?”

Jisung does as he says, albeit reluctantly. Chenle’s eyes are unreadable. “Jisung,” he asks, voice just as quiet. “Can you, like, spell out what you mean, exactly?”

Jisung swallows hard. The ceiling fan rattles in the background. “Well, you know,” Jisung says. “I don’t think there’s much else to say, right? I really really like you, Lele.”

Chenle’s still running his hands through his hair. The silence weighs down on Jisung’s chest. “Chenle, you can’t just not say anything,” he says, voice small.

There’s a smile in his voice when Chenle speaks again. “What else is there to say, Jisung? It’s not like have I’ve been falling at your feet since, like, three years ago.”

Slowly, steadily, Jisung’s heartbeat comes to normal again, with Chenle’s hands in his hair. Jisung’s still scared to make the leap of faith, but Chenle beats him to it. “Sungie, would you do me the honor of being my boyfriend?”

Jisung’s eyes fly open. He slaps Chenle’s arm, once, twice. “Why are you even asking, stupid?”

“Ow, Jisung, what the fuck?”

Jisung smacks him again, more gently this time. “ _I_ wanted to be the one to ask!”

Chenle just laughs and drops a kiss onto Jisung’s forehead.

And when Chenle makes it a habit to kiss Jisung at every possible opportunity, well, then, it’s no one's business but theirs.

(And Renjun’s. And Jaemin’s. And Jeno’s and Donghyuck’s and Mark’s and Johnny’s until, somehow, it’s _everybody’s_ business but theirs.)

(((Jisung basks in the ability to call Chenle his boyfriend whenever he wants. He’d never admit it out loud, though.)))

**Author's Note:**

> im lov qianyi
> 
> [twitter](https://twitter.com/AR1SFOC1S)   
>  [tumblr](https://arisfocis.tumblr.com)
> 
> please please please leave kudos and comments if you liked this fic! need that sexy sexy ao3 email


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